At least nine dead in clashes in Ecuador prison

At least nine people died this Friday in clashes in a prison in Ecuador, the scene of violent prison massacres that have left nearly 400 dead inmates since last year, said the Prosecutor’s Office, which opened an ex officio investigation.

The agency “opened a preliminary investigation into the violent death of 9 people in the #ElInca Provisional Deprivation of Liberty Center,” located in the north of Quito, as reported on its Twitter account.

He added that at the moment “proceedings are being carried out to remove the corpses” in the prison, also called Pichinca 1.

However, the body that manages the prisons (SNAI) said in a statement that the clashes left eight inmates dead.

The access to the prison remains surrounded by soldiers, ambulances and fire trucks, a journalist from the AFP. Legal Medicine personnel entered the scene.

The SNAI indicated that the confrontations began after the transfer of Jonathan Bermudezleader of the Los Lobos gang and accused of directing a massacre in the El Inca prison at the beginning of November, in which five inmates died.

“Members of this criminal organization took violent reprisals” for the relocation of Bermúdez, explained the SNAI.

He added that three other prisoners considered “intellectual” responsible for the attacks this afternoon will be transferred to La Roca, a maximum security prison on the coastal Guayaquil (southwest) where the leader of Los Lobos was relocated earlier.

Friday too An inmate identified as Anchundia was transferred to La Rocaleader of the R7 gang, whom the authorities accuse of being responsible for disturbances in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas prison (center).

In early November, the Lasso government organized the relocation of some 2,400 inmates, sparking an offensive by criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking, which set off car bombs near gas stations and police stations while sparking shootouts.

Eight people, including five uniformed officers, died during the attacks in Guayaquil. This port, a strategic place for the exit of drugs to the United States and Europe, is the most punished by the drug mafia.

Combat “without truce”

“We will continue to act firmly and without truce to combat organized crime, which threatens the security and peace of Ecuadorians,” the SNAI noted after the clashes in Quito.

Since February 2021, there have been eight prison massacres in Ecuador, with a balance of some 400 dead inmates, many of them dismembered and incinerated.

Quito had escaped violence behind bars until November 8, when the confrontation took place that left five dead.

Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the largest cocaine producers in the region, faces an increase in violence linked to drug gangs, as well as of drug seizure.

In 2021, the country seized a record 210 tons and so far this year seizures have reached 170 tons.

To contain the impact of drug violenceLasso declared the Exception status and a curfew in the coastal provinces of Guayas (whose capital is Guayaquil), Esmeraldas (bordering Colombia) and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.

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